Sinking
by wiz-witch in training
Summary: "It was my fault." There's something wrong with Robin that he tries to hide from the Team...
1. Prologue: Blame

**A/N: Warning: my one friend writes angst, and her only comments on this was "very depressing". I know it is, I just felt it was fair to warn you.**

**So...this is the result of me reading depressing fanfics over "vacation"...Yeah...Uh...I'm fully aware I should work on something else!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own this (which is good for Robin's sake)**

_Should've been there to catch you_**  
**

"It was my fault."

_No one noticed when he left the room._

"I'm his best friend."

_Wally turned to ask Robin something._

"I was able to sense his distress."

_He sped around the mountain to find the little bird._

"I could hear that his breathing and heartbeat were strained at times."

_They heard a scream from the bedrooms._

"I noticed he was getting more reckless and resistant to help."

_Everyone ran to see a _very _pale speedster standing in an open doorway._

"I noticed he had been…different lately."

_There was so much blood, and it was still dripping._

Black Canary closed her eyes as she took in the teens' words.

_Despite them being covered, everyone could tell his eyes were clouded over before the boy collapsed._

"It was no one's fault."

**A/N: Who's confused? Anyway, the italicized lines are actually flashbacks to something that happened and resulted in the conversation going on in the normal lines. Make sense? Don't worry, this is a prologue, and then I'll do what happened before the flashback, then the flashback will be a chapter, and the conversation will be another. Then we'll have the aftermath...**

**Robin: I am so lucky you're starting counseling soon...**

**Ignoring that, see if you can guess who was saying what line!  
**


	2. Chapter 1: Wally

**A/N: Hehe, promised someone I'd post this last night, but I have a valid reason for not doing that! that reason is that my mom took me and my sisters to the hospital shortly after I got home, and we didn't leave until midnight, because my grandmother's having heart problems. I literally couldn't write at all last night, and I still haven't gotten that ability back yet...**

**Anyway, have fun reading this piece of pure angst I had written earlier this week! (I've had a crappy week...Thanks, Dr. Fate...)  
**

**Disclaimer: If I owned it, I would be able to watch the new eppy and wouldn't be hopelessly confused.  
**

"Hey, Dick," Barbara greeted cheerfully as Dick turned from putting books in his bag to smile at her. Despite the smile, his eyes didn't seem to have their usual sparkle. Something was wrong. "What's going on?" The boy's smile faltered for a moment before he turned back to his locker.

"What makes you think something's going on?" He shut his locker, but didn't realize that his hand was in the way until he had shut the door on it.

"You just shut your hand in your locker and didn't flinch." She gently grabbed his wrist and looked at how a slight bit of his skin peeled. "Yikes, did you do anything to it earlier?" The ebony quickly took his hand back to inspect the damage. The top layer of skin had peeled off, and there was slight piercing of the layer under, so there was slight bleeding, but not much.

"Must have hit it with the lock. Nothing bad." He closed his locker (making sure his hand wasn't in the way this time) and turned to his friend. "No biggie. Doesn't even need to be covered." He swung his bag over his shoulder and turned to her again. "I need to get going, though, before Bruce freaks. Bye, Babs!" The thirteen-year old then quickly left, leaving a fairly confused 14-year old in the hallway.

* * *

_Recognizing, Robin, B-01_

The moment he walked into the Cave, Robin was barraged by another redhead.

"Oh-my-gosh-there-you-are-I-was-wondering-what-happened-since-you're-usually-here-earlier-and-what-happened-to-your-hand?" Wally speed-talked to Robin, noticing the ripped skin on the ebony's left hand. Course, since they had been friends for years, the acrobat was able to understand him for the most part.

"I shut it in a locker, and my friend freaked out a little. Nothing major." The ebony shrugged and the two boys started walking out of the transport room.

"Ouch, how'd you do that?" At the ninja's confused look, he corrected himself. "How'd you slam your hand in your locker? That's not like you."

"Distracted." The melancholy countenance returned to his visage for a moment, but went back to his amiable, serene one before it became manifest that something was wrong. "We were talking, my mind was wandering, and I was getting my books." The bird then noticed that Wally had a look of profound thought. "What? You're looking at me odd."

"Your mind never wanders. You're always focused." Robin cringed slightly and sped up so they were in the living room. Wally wouldn't _dare_ continue around the Team…right?

"Something's up, and I want to know what it is."

…Wrong.

Megan and Conner were the only two at the Cave. The clone was watching static on the TV while the Martian was reading a cookbook and telepathically gathering ingredients.

"Nothing's wrong."

"De Nile's not just a river and Utah!" The two aliens gave Wally curious looks while the acrobat tried to figure out _how_ his friend could be a _genius_ in mechanics and science, yet so _stupid_ in everything else.

"The Nile is in Egypt." Wally thought for a moment before his cheeks start to match his hair. "Besides, I'm allowed to keep things from you."

"So you _admit _something's going on!" Dick simply walked into the kitchen past Megan and opened the fridge to grab a pop. He calmly took a sip before responding.

"I did no such thing." Another long sip. "I just said I'm allowed to keep things from you." He resumed drinking.

"Then what are you keeping from me?" Robin crushed the now empty can out of frustration.

"Why can't I keep things to myself?" he growled through his teeth before running out of the kitchen. M'Gann looked in shock at the direction he ran before turning to Wally.

"What happened?" The speedster sighed and shrugged as he walked to the Martian.

"I asked him about an injury, he said he shut his locker on his hand, I asked how it happened; he said he had been distracted, and then he got all defensive." He grabbed a high-energy bar from a cabinet and started munching. "I don't know why, though." He groaned slightly and leaned against the counter.

"Maybe he just has a lot on his mind?" Wally gave her a curious glance. "I caught him studying once, and I recognized the book as sophomores at my school use." The ginger was surprised she remembered the term. "He said he skipped a grade and is in advanced classes. Then adding the hero work…" Wally knew what she meant about the last part. They all dealt with it, but it was probably hardest on the little bird since he almost never could show his true self.

"Yeah, you're probably right…"

_I'm his best friend._

_I shouldn't have just let it go._

**A/N: Alright! So, I have this all planned out now: the chapters will kinda focus on one of the Team Members and how they came to the conclusion of how what happened was "their" fault. Then, at the bottom, I'll have their line, along with a little continuation. Example: Wally was the one who said "I'm his best friend", so this focused on how he-Okay, the chapter's right there, never mind.  
**

**Oh, and as for the locker thing...I have no clue where that came from. All I know is that Robin was really mad at me for a couple days until I jerked forward while getting stuff from my locker and hit the back of my hand on it. Hard. Left a bruise.  
**

**Oh, and for the little guessing game, here are people who have reviewed with the correct answers for the guessing game:  
**

**It Was My Fault: To an extent, FudoTwin17 who said Artemis, but it's still open for guessing  
**

**I'm his best friend: Reading Nut Cassirole and FudoTwin17 who said Wally  
**

**I was able to sense his distress: both of those two, who said Megan  
**

**I could hear that his breathing and heartbeat were strained at times: both, they said Conner  
**

**I noticed he was getting more reckless and resistant to help: RNC for saying Artemis  
**

**I noticed he had been . . . different lately: no one, so you can still guess**

**It was no one's fault: FudoTwin for Canary  
**


	3. Chapter 2: Megan

**A/N: Me no likey this chapter! Seriously, I was having problems, and it's MEGAN, for crying out loud! I swore she'd be the easiest to figure out! ESPECIALLY with season 1! *face-palm***

**I was actually trying to figure out how to expand this scene in the middle of Walgreen's when I decided to text my "beta-buddy" (as she calls it), IceEckoes12, for some ideas. She's the one who came up with the idea of having Megan actually try to read his mind. So, yay her! She always comes up with better ideas than me...Seriously, Icey, if you are reading this, do everyone a favor and post your new story. Alright? *grins*  
**

**Oh, and Saturday was a bunch of "WTF?" moments because after posting, I watched the new YJ (KALDUR'S EVIL?), then every time I checked my email, there were always exactly two new emails saying that someone had reviewed/favorited/followed this story. I am not kidding.  
**

**Disclaimer: ...I had problems with MEGAN'S characterization! I REALLY don't think I'm able to own the show...  
**

After putting her cookies in while Wally taught Superboy "the wonders of video games", M'Gann found herself outside of Robin's door.

_Knock, knock._

"Robin? Are you in there?"

Shuffling.

"May I come in?"

Muttering she couldn't understand.

"Robin, could you open the-" Before she could finish, Robin opened the door, trying to put his sunglasses on while muttering under his breath in a foreign language. "Uh…"

"Sorry, Megs. How can I help you?" He put on a smile, but Megan knew it was false. The distress was rolling off him in waves.

"Are…Are you okay?" Robin let out a laugh, but it sounded hollow to the Martian. "There seems to be something wrong…"

"Don't worry, everything's fine." She continued staring at him, trying to figure out what was going on without going into his mind. "Just been under a lot of stress lately." It took him all of two seconds to realized that he was trapping himself.

"Well, why don't you talk about it?" He visibly tensed and gripped the doorframe.

"Identity…" The whisper was barely there as he let out a breath and relaxed. "Can't really…I'll be fine, though, don't worry." The bird turned to go back to his room, but the ginger grabbed his forearm to stop him. What she didn't see, however, was how he silently screamed in pain for a couple seconds. "Let me go!" He wrenched his arm away and walked into his room, closing the door behind him.

Megan stayed outside the door. She knew she should leave, but she also knew she couldn't. Not until she knew what was wrong. Course, he wasn't coming out anytime soon, so she deiced to find out a different way. One she wasn't supposed to use, but she didn't see any other option.

_Ugh! Why can't anyone leave me alone today? First Babs, then Wally, and now Megan! I'm _so_ lucky I've been able to avoid Bruce lately…_She dug a bit more and saw a group of people falling, although she couldn't see it clearly.

The Martian was then pushed out. She expected as much, since Robin was a Bat and was most likely trained to keep out telepaths. It was a wonder she had been in there as long as she had. What was that she had seen? Those people had seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't remember from where. All she knew for certain that it had something to do with his distress. She started flying back to the kitchen to tell the others, but then she realized something.

A team was built on trust. By reading Robin's mind, she was betraying that trust. Yet by not telling anyone…

As she telepathically pulled out her cookies and Wally sped in to inhale them, she decided to keep Robin's secret until it became necessary to tell the Team.

_I was able to sense his distress._

_I should have said something before it was too late._

**A/N: Wow, this is bad...BTW, he wasn't having a flashback. She had dug a bit into his mind to find that. Alright? Oh, and for guesses:  
**

******It Was My Fault: Zarsla for saying that it was the entire team (okay, it's technically missing a member, but I'm not THAT nitpicky)  
**

******I noticed he had been . . . different lately: JadeDragon220 Zarsla with Aqualad  
**

******I have the next chapter written, so I'll type that up and post it so tomorrow, after watching "Savage", you'll have something pleasant in your inbox.  
**


	4. Chapter 3: Conner

**A/N: This one's a lot better. Like a LOT. Like a lot a lot a lot a lot a LOT better. So far, this is my favorite (although I still like the fact I got an idea for Artemis's chapter from Ice Age). Oh...And is just me, or did my style randomly change? This was written yesterday/today. Maybe Wednesday...Yeah, two lines Wednesday...IceEckoes was happy! She wanted me to post it that second and gave me an idea for this chapter involving the sparring session.  
**

**Yeah. Sorry, but today during FCS, I was trying to write that part, but...I soon became frustrated since I CAN'T DO FIGHT SCENES! I actually yelled at the paper while scribbling out the fight scene "Evil fight scene, I do not like you!"  
**

**Disclaimer: I can't do fight scenes, I don't think I could own a show with them.  
**

It wasn't too long before Kaldur and Artemis arrived. Soon after, Black Canary alerted them it was almost time for training. Conner volunteered to go get the acrobat. As he walked up to the bedroom, he heard someone shuffling papers around. He stood outside the door for several moments before gently rapping his knuckles against the door, which felt a little strange to him. The little ninja normally would have known he was coming and opened the door. When Robin opened the door, he was shoving his glasses on and was muttering in some language the clone didn't know.

"Hey, Con, what's up?"

One thing about super hearing was that he could notice slight frequency changes, like how Robin's voice cracked slightly while he was talking. Normally, he would have ignored it, but the boy was also shaking quite a bit despite his grip on the door.

"Time for training."

He wanted to ask Robin if he was alright, if anything was wrong, but he couldn't. Everyone knew how secretive Batman was, so it made sense that the Boy Wonder was, too. If anyone asked him anything, they probably wouldn't get a fully honest answer.

So he just watched. Hopefully nothing would go wrong.

Hopefully.

Robin nodded once in response before going back into his room to change into uniform. When he came out a gain, he had a (fake) smile on his face. It was then that the clone realized that the boy's heartbeat and breathing were off. He was taking barely there shallow breaths and his pulse was weaker than normal. His normally peach skin contrasted more with his hair, mask, and gloves than normal, now that he thought about it. Maybe he _should_ ask-

"Are you alright?"

Okay, he could have thought that out a bit more.

"Why does everything think something's wrong?" The venom was evident on his voice.

That wasn't the response he was expecting.

"Sorry, but it seems like something's going on."

Robin took a deep(er than he had been taking) breath before continuing. "It's alright." The ninja then closed the door and started for the training room, but not before the Kryptonian could see a notebook next to a pile of envelopes on the desk…

_I could he how strained his heartbeat and breathing were at times._

_I should have pushed him harder for answers._

**A/N: Yeah, my style changed...I started this Wednesday, worked on it yesterday, and last night, I started reading "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson (author of "Speak"), and I read while I write. So, that's probably why I randomly took a mysterious tone...**_  
_

**That, or this chapter was a helluvalot easier to write. *thinks* Superboy's chapter was easier to write than Megan's...What's wrong with me?  
**

**Robin: Other than the chemical imbalance in your brain?  
**

**...Please review.  
**

**Sorry this wasn't up last night! I was half asleep and didn't QUITE post it...sorry...Well, this morning, I was texting my beta buddy, and remembered I never gave the new challenge: There's a clue about what happened to Robin in each chapter. You're challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to find them. Alright? Great!  
**


	5. Chapter 4: Artemis

**A/N: Whoo! Wrote this back when school was in session, typed it last night! That's fail since school starts in a week (except for math, gym, and allied arts, my best friend is in all my classes!)! But, when the black hole that tis my desk spit it up yesterday, I decided I should type it before I lost it again. And only reason I'm posting now is because I have stuff going on and may not be able to post for a while. So, enjoy Arty's chapter, which I came up with first.**

**Disclaimer: My friend and I both just had a freak out over texting about who knows Dick's secret ID...which started from whether or not the Batcave has a Zeta in it...What the heck? Anyway, I don't own Young Justice!  
**

Artemis watched Canary demonstrate the move with Robin through glazed eyes. It had been a couple weeks since the last mission, and she was sick of waiting. In her perpetual vision, Miss Martian was nervously chewing on her lip and Kid Idiot seemed more jittery than normal. She watched the fighting again.

Robin ended in a stutter-step.

That fact stuck out to her as she sparred with the boy. She sparred with him before, but right now, it felt like he was going easy on her, something he'd never done.

What was going on?

"You alright?" The thirteen-year old barred his teeth and actually threw a hard punch to her shoulder that she just barely dodged by millimeters.

"I'm _fine_!" **[1]** Okay…something was definitely wrong. Robin _never_ snapped like that. Closest he got was his sarcastic retorts/banters towards Wally.

What was going on?

Her suspicions were confirmed when she managed to knock him down with a sweep kick. _No one_ could beat the Boy Wonder!

Well, obviously she could, but…That wasn't normal. Normally, he never even gave his opponent a _chance_ to even _touch_ him. To actually _beat_ him…

"You sure?"

Robin ignored her extended hand and instead did a slight flip to stand up with another stutter-step.

"I'm sure."

The venom on his voice was almost tangible.

"…Alright." She wanted to say more, but was interrupted by the computer announcing Batman's arrival.

Robin took a step away from his mentor and seemed to make himself smaller in a way no one would notice.

She noticed.

She noticed the way he bent his knees, hunched his shoulders, and dipped his head the moment Batman entered. Had they gotten into a fight? It would explain why the usually cheerful teen seemed so down.

No, she had seen him when they were in disagreements, and the Boy Wonder usually glared at his mentor and would fight harder than normal – enough to quickly take down Conner! Today his punches were barely there and he seemed almost _scared_ of the Dark Knight. If it was anyone else, it would be understandable, since the Bat was kinda scary. But to his _protégé_? The kid had been with him since he was _nine_, maybe longer!

She then realized he was assigning a mission. Whoops. She probably should start paying attention, then.

It was an information-gathering mission. There were files and samples to gather.

Robin was first to leave once they were dismissed. Batman looked in the direction his protégé ran for a moment before turning away. Artemis then left.

_~Sinking~_

Normal mission. They tried to remain covert, then, while she was covering for Robin while he hacked a computer, someone (Baywatch, she suspected) did something stupid to blow their cover. As a result, when the two humans of the Team left the computer room, they ended up having to avoid gunmen. To do so, they quickly pressed themselves up between a wall and a large crate.

Perfect.

"You alright, Robin?" The pause was too long for her taste.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." That statement _may_ have been more believable if he didn't grunt in pain from gripping a bullet wound on his left shoulder.

A wound he only got because he knocked her out of the way.

"You sure?" He nodded and started to stand. Before he could take a single step, he all but collapsed into the archer's arms. "Robin-"

"I'm _**FINE!**_" The acrobat forced his way out of her arms. Before she could say anything, he did a string of flips and jumps that caused him to be on the other end of the room before she knew what was going on. By the time she got over to him, he was on his knees gripping his shoulder. He glared at her a bit, but this was quickly replaced with surprise before he jumped to the other side of her and pushed them down. "Ow…ow…ow…"

"What was _that_?!" She dragged the boy back behind another crate and sat him down. It was then she noticed that he now was holding his left hip as well as his shoulder. "R-Robin? What happened?"

"N-nothing. D-Don't worry about-t it." He only stuttered when he was nervous. **[2]** She gently pried his hand off his hip to see the red.

"That's not nothing." She looked him in the lenses of his mask. "That could've killed you."

"Could've. It _would_'ve killed you. That's why I did it." He looked around a bit and used the crate to stand. "Come on. We have to get out now."

"_I noticed he was getting more reckless and resistant to help."_

"_I should have known that something was up with the fact he wasn't acting normal."_

**[1] Uh, yeah…when this many people ask…I think something's going on…**

**[2] As shown in both "Disordered" and "Image"**

**A/N: This was the first chapter I came up with, and I came up with it while watching Ice Age because during the lava scene in the first move, Diego says "You could've died trying to save me"...I couldn't help but think of a cheeky Robin comment...And my excuse for the sucky mission is that she's distracted...Anyway, this actually has three clues. Oh, and if I get one more review saying "the journal", I'm gonna go crazy! Er. There are clues in Wally and Megan's chapters! Now, I need to work on Kaldur's a bit more...*sighs* And I thought Megan's was hard...**


	6. Chapter 5: Kaldur

**A/N: Final chapter before you find out what happened to Robin in the prologue! Who's excited for that!**

**JK, I'm actually working on chapter nine right now, and you find out what happened to him in chapter seven. This is chapter five. Meaning a longer wait...I have the next one ready to post, then the two after, I need to type/edit.  
**

**Disclaimer: I wish. Then I would know whether or not the "MetaGene" being the next episode title was real...  
**

Kaldur couldn't help but sigh in relief after giving the mission report to Batman. Everyone within the League (and several outside) knew Batman was fairly protective of his little bird and bless those who were responsible for harm to befall the Boy Wonder. Since Kaldur was the leader of the Team, the Dark Knight would often think he should hold at least _some_ responsibility, especially if they could have gone on the mission without being discovered.

Yet there was something else going on. He didn't know what, but there was. He couldn't even pinpoint when it started. It all seemed like it was a gradual thing.

Today was the breaker.

Neither of the teen's bullet wounds were major once they got medical attention, so he was allowed out of the medical bay. Normally, Robin would be unable to sit still and would do flips to move about. This time, however, he simply walked into the living room after changing into civvies and laid down on the couch. The Atlantian decided in his mind that it was because of the shoulder wound and he may have had late nights in Gotham.

Then he remembered Robin hadn't been in Gotham lately.

He had been spending his nights at the Cave – leaving early in the morning so he could get ready for school in Gotham. Whenever asked why, he would say it was just because he didn't want to be home.

This had been going on for several weeks.

Kaldur watched as M'Gann walked over to the little bird and ran her green fingers through his ebony locks.

"Are you staying tonight?" The acrobat gave a small nod in response to her gentle voice. "Do your parents know you've been staying here?"

"They can't do anything about it." Most kids would have said that with an independent tone. Robin, however, seemed almost…sad. Maybe something was going on at his house. "I know what you're thinking, and nothing's going on with them that wasn't happening before I started staying here." He just let out a sigh. "I just don't want to be home."

"Why's that, Rob?" No one questioned the speedster's appearance.

"Why does this matter so much to you guys?"

"Because, Robin, we are worried about you and wish to know if everything is al-"

The bird was gone before he could finish.

_I noticed he had been acting…different lately._

_I should not have acted as if they were nothing._

**A/N: *singing* Just close your eyes, you'll be alright, come morning light, you and I'll be- *sees you guys* Oh, whoops, sorry. I've been listening to "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift. Anyway, I'll post the next chapter later tonight, and reason I'm not doing it right now is because I'm revealing all the clues, and I wanna give you a chance to find this one first.  
**


	7. Chapter 6: Back to Normal?

**A/N: I had originally written this late at night. Then I got yelled at about stupid stuff I did in it...I don't know where the pancake came from...Random thing: If you go on YouTube and search "Young Justice Taylor Swift", there's at least seven pages worth of videos. O.o Anyway, I still need to type the next two chapters, and I'm stuck with chapter nine...*pouts* But you get to see what happened to Robin in the next one! And just a warning, I was almost crying by the end of this...**

**Disclaimer: Haha, do I look like I own it? Wait, you can't see me...I don't.  
**

No one bothered Robin for the rest of the night. Megan had knocked on his door at one point asking if he wanted to eat dinner, but all she got was a "pleacă."

Since it was Friday, everyone decided to stay in their rooms at the Cave instead of zetaing home. The next morning, Megan was surprised to see a familiar ebony sitting on the couch.

"Good morning, Robin." Robin looked up from his laptop and turned to see the Martian.

"Morning, Miss M." Okay, what happened to the closed-off, withdrawn boy that he had been yesterday? "What are you up to?"

"Just getting ready to make breakfast." The human smiled and came into the kitchen with her.

"Need help?" What was going on? Had she dreamt the day before up? "Megs?"

"Sorry, yeah, you can help." He smiled again as he pulled out a mixing bowl. "You seem different." His smile fell.

"Can we forget yesterday happened?" She pulled out eggs and he cracked them into the bowl. "Just…please? I don't know what was going on. I guess the stress has been getting to me." He let out a yawn. "And lack of sleep."

"Do you want to talk to talk about it?" He shook his head as he reached on his tip-toes for the flour.

"My non-Robin stressors are specific to my civilian identity, and if I tell them to you, you could figure out who I am," he explained as she levitated the flour down to his hands. "Am I really that short?"

"You're a thirteen-year old acrobat boy who barely sleeps." She didn't know how, but she could tell he was rolling his unseen eyes as he mixed the ingredients. "I'm sure you'll get taller someday." He then did something unexpected.

He turned around and wrapped his arms around her torso in a tight hug as if he was holding on to her existence.

_~Sinking~_

Conner came into the kitchen while Robin was staring at the ceiling and Megan was giggling behind her hand. "What happened?" Robin didn't move as Megan simply laughed harder and pointed to…

…a pancake…

…stuck to the ceiling.

"Uh…how?"

"I wanted to see how high we could flip it…"

"And I used my telekinesis to make it go higher." The boys continued staring at it while the Martian kept laughing.

"How did it stick?" Robin finally decided a pancake wasn't a suitable competition for a staring contest and looked at the clone.

"Flour and water. When you don't cook it, they make a remarkable glue." He then resumed his staring contest with it. "Megan?"

"'Right, got it." She calmed down her laughter a bit and focused on the pancake. Soon enough it came down…

…along with small ceiling bits.

"Well, there goes-" Miss Martian started before Superboy cut her off.

"Something's burning." Dick quickly turned the burner off and grabbed a spatula to pry the burnt pancakes out of the pan. "Need help?"

"A little…" The Kryptonian gently took the pan and spatula from him and managed to get it out.

"So what was going on with-"

'_He doesn't want it brought up.'_ He looked at his girlfriend's pleading, amber eyes, then at the smaller boy who was now having a staring contest with the counter. A silent agreement was passed between the two aliens. M'Gann started looking through cabinets while Robin put more ingredients in the bowl.

"I'm sorry about yesterday." Before the Kryptonian could respond, there were a pair of small – scratch that, _tiny_ – arms wrapped around him as if they'd never let go.

_~Sinking~_

Artemis was next up. She tried to walk into the kitchen without running into anything and headed straight to the one-cup coffee maker – something Megan _insisted_ on when she learned her "Earth sister" needed the black liquid in the morning. **[1] **Once she got it started, her "baby brother" spoke up.

"Pancakes are in the microwave if you want any." The archer nearly jumped a foot in the air before turning to see the technically oldest and the two technically youngest members of the Team. **[2] **She didn't know what surprised her more: the sudden spout of dialogue when she didn't even know anyone was in the room (she thought Conner was training with Megan watching if they weren't sleeping still while Robin hid in his room some more) or the fact it was _Robin_ who spoke.

"Uh, alright." The blonde opened the microwave and – lo and behold – there was a plate of pancakes. She grabbed another plate from a cabinet, put a couple pancakes on the new plate, and put that in the microwave to warm them up. She grabbed her coffee from the maker and took a sip when she noticed… "What's on the counter?

"Depends on what the ceiling's made of." Yep, definitely a little brother. He noticed her confused look and elaborated. "We got one stuck to the ceiling – don't ask – and had problems getting it down and _no_, you will _not_ give it to Wally." She smirked a bit at the thought as the microwave beeped and she swapped the plates again.

"Alright, I won't." She looked at the ceiling as she sit down and sure enough, there was a small part missing. "So, squirt, what was-" Her mouth was covered while Robin looked away, frowning down at his pancakes.

'_He doesn't want yesterday mentioned at all.'_ Artemis gave her an incredulous look. _'Please, Artemis?'_

'_Alright. I'd worry about Baywatch, though.'_ Once she sent her thought, Robin had his arms around her as tightly as possible.

_~Sinking~_

Somehow, no one was surprised at who was up next.

"Mornin', Kal!" The Atlantian was surprised when he saw the amiable bird in the living room with Artemis, M'Gann, and Conner. "Pancakes are in the microwave."

"Good morning. I trust everything is going well?" He pulled out the pancakes and put a couple on a separate plate to heat as Robin wandered into the kitchen. When he saw the boy's smile, he knew the answer.

"Yep, everything is right as rain here!" He looked at the ceiling and laughed a little. "Well, except for that." Aqualad looked at the missing ceiling bit. "We got a pancake stuck to it and had problems getting it off."

"Uh huh…" He took his pancakes out and grabbed the syrup from the fridge before sitting down. "About yesterday-" The younger boy suddenly stopped smiling at Kaldur and started frowning at the ground.

'_Kaldur, please don't mention yesterday. He seems back to normal except for when it's brought up.'_

'_Alright.'_ Right after he thought this, the Boy Wonder somehow ended up right next to him with his arms wrapped around him.

_~Sinking~_

Wally was last up. The moment he came into the room, Megan sent him a mind message.

'_Wally, I know you're worried about Robin, and as his best friend, that makes sense, but please don't bring yesterday up. Please.'_ Wally looked into the living room and was slightly surprised to see his best friend in there.

"Mornin', everyone!" Everyone turned towards the speedster and greeted him.

"If you want some breakfast, there are some pancakes in the microwave." The ginger looked at his friends' smile a bit before going into the kitchen for his late breakfast. What was going on? Yesterday Dick seemed really upset about something, but now he seemed fine. "How are you?" When the ninja suddenly appeared next to him, the speedster jumped in the air. He then turned and studied his friend's smile a bit more. If only he could see the eyes… The smiling boy suddenly took on a look of concern. "Wally?"

"What? Oh, I'm fine." The bird smiled again. "What about you?" The acrobat simply wrapped his arms around the speedster and buried his head in the crook of his neck.

"Everything's perfect."

**[1] I don't think Wally or Robin would be allowed to drink it (Wally because I don't think we wanna see him with caffeine in his system, Robin because he has enough sleep issues and because we all agree he shouldn't be hyper), and I just can't see Megan, Kal, or Con drinking it. Artemis…She's reminded me of myself and I wanna kill someone until I get coffee in the morning.**

**[2] Megan's 48 Earth years, Conner's not even one. Make sense?**

**A/N: So...Robin and Megan getting the pancake stuck to the ceiling will probably be a one-shot posted later, and here's where I'm going to tell you what all the clues were and you guys try to make sense of it all:  
**

**Wally's Chapter: The locker and how he didn't flinch.  
**

**Megan's Chapter: When Megan grabbed Robin's arm, she was hurting him.  
**

**Conner's Chapter: Yes, it was the journal.  
**

**Artemis's Chapter: 1, how he was doing poorly in training, 2, how he seemed scared of Batman, and 3, how he keeps collapsing.  
**

**Kaldur's chapter: Robin wants to be away from Batman, and this has been going on for a while. I know it's also in Artemis's chapter, but do remember I didn't come up with the clues until I wrote the chapter. Anyway, I'm gonna go type the next chapter now.  
**


	8. Chapter 7: The Incident

After Wally ate his breakfast, Megan suggested they have a movie day in the living room, which Robin quickly seconded. It was during this that things went very wrong very fast.

Megan popped everyone some popcorn in the kitchen while Wally put the DVD in and everyone else sat down. Robin was at the end, with Artemis next to him, then Conner and Kaldur at the opposite end. When M'Gann came in, she sat right between Artemis and Superboy, and KF tried to sit between the two girls, which earned a glare from a certain archer, so he moved to be on the opposite side of Dick.

Everyone watched the movie without incident until about halfway through. Kid Flash finished his popcorn (again) and decided to look to his left to see if anyone needed any more. Everyone's bowl was about half-full except for Robin's…

…Which was completely filled…

…And the Boy Wonder was gone.

Despite not being a detective (something he was reminded of every time Dick tricked him into playing Clue), the speedster knew that could _not_ be good.

So he ran.

Wally looked to see where in the mountain his friend was. _He didn't leave. They would've known if he did._

Training room – nothing.

Gym – nothing.

Library – nothing.

Bedrooms – noth-

No.

God, _no_!

_~Sinking~_

Once he was sure everyone was thoroughly engrossed in the movie, Dick went to his room. They had gotten close to finding out what he had been planning, so he had to do it _now_. He should've done it last night, but he needed some sort of closure with the Team. The thought of going back to Gotham to see Bruce and Alfred crossed his mind more than once, but the words "World's Greatest Detective" popped up soon after every time.

With _Wally _getting suspicious, that seemed like a bad idea.

"I'm so sorry, Bruce," he whispered as he pulled a few things out of a drawer. A knife, a small bottle, and a picture. He opened the bottle and swallowed some of the pills from it. A sad smile tugged the corners of his mouth when he saw his family, frozen forever in time. "I'll be with you soon."

Then took off his jacket and hoodie, thus revealing his arms.

His very _scarred _arms.

From a little bit below his wrists to a little less than halfway up his forearms, **[1]** there was almost nothing but scar tissue from all the cuts.

After taking a few more of the pills, he started opening them again, and continued the cuts all the way up past his elbows.

The small boy was literally tearing apart his arms. Once he couldn't cut any more, he swallowed another handful of pills and placed the knife against his chest when something stopped him.

"Robin!"

_Heh, even now, my identity will remain secret._

Through his clouded mind, Dick was aware of his friend running in and kneeling in front of him. The knife was out of his grasp somehow, and his arms were being squeezed with his discarded clothing items. What was Wally doing? The thirteen-year old turned and saw the Team coming in right before blacking out into Wally's arms.

Megan was first to respond when she saw the collapsed boy and started using her telekinesis to help stop the blood flow. Kaldur then turned to Artemis. She gave a curt nod and left to contact the League for help.

"Wally, what happened?" The speedster wrapped his arms around his friend's limp formed and tried to keep his breathing under control.

"I just came in like this and found him like this, but I know one thing." He looked up at the Atlantian. "H-He was trying to kill himself."

**[1] Jacket sleeves go to his wrists. After a lot of YouTube watching, I noticed that his gloves only went halfway up his forearms…I wonder why…Anyway, that's why he only cut there.**


	9. Chapter 8: Therapy

**A/N: Uh...This isn't the greatest...**

**Stephanie: You've been sick.  
**

**A fever for most of this, sinus infection that STILL hasn't gone away for the end...but, yeah, my writing ends up being...  
**

**Stephanie: Crap?  
**

**...Shut up. Anyway, it's not as good when there's something wrong with my health...plus, I was a _little_ scripted with this...*sighs*  
**

**Disclaimer: Nope.  
**

Black Canary, Martian Manhunter, and Batman were at the Cave almost instantly after Artemis called. Dinah gently herded the shell-shocked teens out while J'onn and Bruce stayed with Dick. The blonde Leaguer brought the kids into the same room they had their therapy sessions in after the simulation-gone-wrong.

"Computer, secure room." This caused some slight surprise from the teens, but no one said anything about it aloud. "Now…What exactly happened?" Wally closed his eyes and fell backwards over the arm of one of the chairs while Megan sat down in the other while trying to hold back her tears from all the emotion. A few more moments of silence before all five teens answered in unison.

"It was my fault."

This caused some surprised reactions, including Wally almost falling out of the chair. Black Canary barely knew what to make of this.

"W-What?" The sidekicks exchanged glances before Wally sighed and sat up.

"I'm his best friend. When I noticed something was up with him, I asked about it, but just let it go when he wanted to. As a best friend, though, I shouldn't have just let it go." Megan shook her head in response to his reasoning as he fell back again.

"I could sense his distress. In fact, I even looked into his mind yesterday to see if that would provide answers to what was going on. He-he thought something about avoiding someone named Bruce, and I found a memory of people falling." Wally's eyes widened in surprise when she said this. "I should have told someone about what I saw before it was too late." Conner came over and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend's slender frame.

"I could hear how strained his heartbeat and breathing were at times. Yesterday, especially, when I came to get him for training. I noticed how he was shaking and clutching the door frame. When asking him about it, I should have pressed him harder for answers." Artemis sighed and leaned against the door with her arms crossed and eyes closed.

"I noticed he had been getting more reckless and resistant to help. He allowed himself to get shot numerous times on the mission yesterday, yet wouldn't let me help him. I should have known something was up with the fact he wasn't acting normal." Kaldur closed his eyes and held a hand up.

"I noticed he had been…different lately. I knew several of the things he had been doing were odd and out of character for him. I should have not acted as if they were nothing." Black Canary closed her eyes as she took in the teens' words. After a moment of thought, she realized what happened and opened her eyes.

"It was no one's fault. You all must remember that Robin's been raised and trained by _The _Batman for the past four – almost five – years. As a result, some of his tendencies have rubbed of, including hiding emotions and feelings." She looked at all the teens in the room. "I understand that you are all grieving, but please don't blame yourselves. There may not have even been any way for you to stop it. This was something Robin did, but you guys were able to save him." Wally rotated so he was sitting in the chair normally and gripped the arms of it.

"It shouldn't have gotten that far!" Dinah slowly walked to the speedster and knelt down in front of him. "We should have noticed something was off before-"

"Wally, Robin clearly didn't want anyone-"

"I know who he is, and I know why he became Robin!" He gripped the chair tighter and clenched his eyes shut. "I should've known broken he was inside…"

There was a bit of silence as everyone stared at Wally in surprise. He knew Robin's secret identity?

"W-What do you mean by that, Wally?" Artemis looked at the ginger with gentle, curious eyes that seemed more suited on Megan than her. "What caused him to become Robin?"

Wally let out a deep breath. "He…He saw…He watched his…" He took another deep breath. "It's not my story to share."

**A/N: Alright...So...Uh...Next chapter is in progress, and I'll post that when it's ready. Alright? Now excuse me while I do that and maybe get something else done (I'm a multi-tasker).  
**


	10. Author's Note: Sorry and Preview

**So...Uh..."Young Justice" is getting intense-**

**Stephanie: Any fan of yours who has read "I'll Try" knows what this means.  
**

**Hehe...Yeah...Uh...I feel you have the right to know why-  
**

**Stephanie: You're scared, aren't you?  
**

**No!  
**

**Stephanie: Then why are you hiding behind a wall?  
**

**...  
**

**Stephanie: ...You're scared of your fans?  
**

**Anyway, over the summer, I meant to reorganize my writing system...Then I found Artemis's chapter in my black hole of a desk, so I posted it. After this, I managed to get a chapter a week out, even when I was trapped in the educational system. When I ran out of chapters to post, I told myself I'd post the next one before "Satisfaction" (which was less than satisfying) aired...but...something happened a week and a half before it did that made me emotionally distraught that actually made it impossible for me to write at all. And after I got the ability back...  
**

**I have most of the story planned out, and what I have for chapter nine, I just couldn't write. I'm slowly getting better...And I guess with the way I have them planned, what I have for chapter ten could come before nine (they happen at approximately the same time), especially since I'm sure all of you want DaddyBats! ...But that's the problem. Ever notice how Batman/Bruce seems to be all but nonexistent in my stories? *sighs* I have parental issues, and, uh, Robin tends to be my outlet...Doesn't help that I have a slightly angsty one-shot idea...My friend suggested I do a fluffy one-shot first for practice...  
**

**Which brings me to my next point (wow, I'm writing an English paper...as if we're doing actual English in English -.- commercials and speeches, shoot me now): One-shots. Even when unable to write, I still come up with ideas, and ideas still continued flooding me like crazy...I think the plunnies FINALLY calmed down, but now I have...*counts* a lot of one-shot ideas. So, I decided that I'm going to take a small little break from posting so I can get a lot of things done, and then I'll be able to post SOMETHING every week.  
**

**Basically, I have a priority list that gets adjusted depending on when the latest chapter was reviewed and how many more chapters are done. I'll be sure to have a bunch of one-shots ready to post so that if none of my multi-chaptered stories are reviewed or ready to be updated, I can post one of those instead. Make sense? ...Now, I'll tell you when I'll update after this little preview:  
**

* * *

Wally was astonished. How didn't he notice these earlier?

...Okay, the earlier events probably would have made it difficult to notice something like this.

The speedster looked through the stack of envelopes and looked at the names one them to find the one addressed to the members of the Team. He shoved them in his back pocket and placed the rest back on the desk before walking out of the room again. It wasn't too long before he was in the kitchen with Megan and he realized what reading the letters would enthrall: They were intended to be read if Dick succeeded in his attempt.

"Oh, Wally, I didn't notice you were there."

Reading them...would be like accepting it.

"It's fine. I just got in here." The two of them stood in awkward silence a bit until Black Canary walked in.

* * *

**...I never said it would be long. It's getting late...Anyway, I'll start weekly updates after I get two chapters of this done, along with an undetermined number of one-shots. Depends on how much I can write in a week...I have dance class Mondays, an ASD group Tuesdays (kudos if you know what that stands for), counseling on Wednesdays, and my mom likes to spring stuff on us on the weekends while my teachers give me overloads of homework. How does ten sound. Or New Year's? That sounds realistic! *eye roll***

**Oh, and for every flame/negative comment about this, I will tack another week on. I feel bad enough that I'm doing it now, I don't need people trying to make me feel guilty.  
**

**Stephanie: So that's why you're behind the wall!  
**

**Shut up!  
**


	11. Chapter 9: Waiting

**A/N: Hi! Uh...Yeah...Sorry for the hiatus, but I needed a break to catch up.**

**Stephanie: You got this, chapter ten, and a one-shot done.  
**

**...That's more than when I started! Anyway, I'll blab at the bottom so you can read.  
**

**Disclaimer: If I owned it...Eh, I got nothing.  
**

* * *

Wally wandered the Mountain once Black Canary let them go. Everyone was doing something to get their minds off of what happened. Megan was baking, Artemis was shooting, Kaldur was swimming, and Conner was punching. The ginger had a sneaking suspicion Dinah was in the kitchen with Megan, but he wasn't sure.

The speedster was walking around the Cave. He didn't want to use his speed if at all possible because it would make the wait last that much longer.

Not something he wanted.

Despite his resistance to using his speed, the teen's thoughts were racing. How could he not see the signs? He _knew_ the poor kid bared a lot of weight on his poor shoulders – he'd known that since the day the bird revealed his identity – but never anything like this. Never anything he'd kill himself over…

Before Wally knew it, he was in front of Dick's room. Something in his mind made him walk in and when he did, he couldn't help but remember when he first realized how much the smaller boy trusted him.

_Kid Flash ducked behind one of the trees and let out a sigh of relief. His victory was short lived, however, before a black and red bundle attacked him from the side. The two of them tumbled over each other for several feet before the speedster found himself pinned to the ground by the "bundle", which turned out to be Robin. The ninja leaned down so his face was near his friend's and whispered two words._

"_I win."_

"_As always-" Wally started before realizing that he wasn't looking at a mask. Instead, he was staring at a pair of blue eyes he _knew _he'd seen somewhere… "Your mask's off…"_

"_I know." Okay then…The twelve-year old got off his friend and pulled him up so they were sitting face to face. "Despite what Batman says, I know I can't trust you. My name's Richard Grayson, but you can call me Dick." _

"…_No wonder you looked familiar."_

_Neither of them had laughed so hard in their lives._

There wasn't any blood on the floor. Wally couldn't help but notice that as he came back to the present. The jacket and shirt were still on the floor, though, and they probably had blood on them. The pill bottle and knife were nestled in the pile. How did they end up in there? Did he do that? The speedster looked around the room some more and noticed something on the desk. A pile of envelopes.

Suicide notes.

Wally was astonished. Why didn't he notice these earlier?

...Okay, the earlier events probably would have made it difficult to notice something like this.

The speedster looked through the stack of envelopes and looked at the names one them to find the one addressed to the members of the Team. He shoved them in his back pocket and placed the rest back on the desk before walking out of the room again. It wasn't too long before he was in the kitchen with Megan and he realized what reading the letters would enthrall: They were intended to be read if Dick succeeded in his attempt.

"Oh, Wally, I didn't notice you were there."

Reading them...would be like accepting it.

"It's fine. I just got in here." The two of them stood in awkward silence a bit until Black Canary walked in.

"Wally? Megan? Where are the others? I have news for you on Robin."

* * *

**A/N: So, when will I reveal whether or not he's alive? Middle of the next chapter-**

**Stephanie: He's-**

**Don't blab. Anyway, Wally found the suicide notes, and Canary has news. What's gonna happen? Find out next week!  
**


	12. Chapter 10: Finally

**A/N: This is when we learn why Batman/Bruce has been nonexistent. Seriously...I had more problems than I should've...But, hey! You get to see if he's dead or alive!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be sitting here questioning Captain Marvel's decision to become Billy Batson at the end of the one clip for tomorrow's episode...  
**

Batman – no, Bruce – sighed as he ran his fingers through Dick's black locks. How could something like this happen? He should've seen the signs…What kind of detective was he if he couldn't tell that his own son was hurting so much he'd try to _kill_ himself?

What kind of _father_ was he?

Bruce let out another sigh. The answer to _that_ was clear: he wasn't one.

"Dick, please, wake up." He took his free hand and gently squeezed the teen's limp one.

Batman had been surprised when he saw Artemis's distressed face appear on the communications screen while he was updating systems in the Watchtower. The blonde was usually so strong – so powerful. For her to allow herself to show _weakness_…

She then said the five words of "Robin tried to kill himself."

He didn't know how to respond.

"W-We don't know what to do." She took a deep, shuddery breath. "The other are trying to help, but I don't think it's enou-"

"We shall arrive shortly," Martian Manhunter interrupted after entering the room and figuring out what was going on.

"A-Alright…but please hurry." She then turned off the transmission and Batman turned to see both J'onn and Dinah.

"Let's get going."

Black Canary helped to calm/distract the teens while he and John took care of Dick. When they first saw the boy, he was so still; they feared they were too late. They then noticed the subtle rise and fall of his chest and the billionaire let out a sigh of relief. He looked around to see the knife and bottle and figured out what the small boy had done, so the two Leaguers took him up to the Watchtower where they would be a bit less limited on supplies. The bleeding was stopped (fortunately it wasn't enough for him to go into shock) and his stomach was pumped so the toxins from his overdose wouldn't kill him.

Now, it was just up to Dick to wake up.

"If not for me, at least for your friends."

Right as he said that, the teen's limp hand gave his own a squeeze. It wasn't a tight one, but it was there and showed the child was alive. "Dick?"

Bruce soon found himself looking into a pair of dulled, bright blue eyes.

* * *

Wally was nervous as he walked through the Watchtower.

The Watchtower.

He always expected this to be a happy occasion – being able to come to the Watchtower. This trip, however, was filled with misery and dread.

_Rob's alive._

Barely.

_He woke up. That means he has _some_ will to live._

But not enough to not try in the first place.

Megan gently grabbed Wally's shoulder in a comforting gesture. Superboy gave them a skeptical look until he remembered: Robin and Wally were best friends – both in and out of costume. The ginger must have been taking this the hardest and needed the most comfort.

The Martian leaned towards Wally's ear and quietly whispered, "Don't worry, Black Canary said he woke up, and the fact we can see him most likely means he isn't as bad as he could be. I'm sure he'll better and you'll be there to help."

"Thanks," he whispered back with no emotion. He honestly was thankful she was trying to help, but he still felt guilty. _Fastest kid alive, still too slow._

"We're here," Black Canary announced to the kids as she stopped and turned. "I'm assuming all of you want to come in?" No objections. "Alright, please stay out here for one moment. I just need to talk with Br-Batman," she explained before walking into the room.

**A/N: Yep, he's alive, although just barely. I have a page of the next chapter written, and it's from Rob's point of view...kinda interesting...Although considering my homework loads and my Epic Mickey addiction (even when I'm not playing, I'm helping my sister), I may not finish by next Friday, so I may post a one-shot instead-don't-hurt-me!**


	13. Chapter 11: Dick

**A/N: *playing with a pair of nunchucks, then hits myself in the head* Ow...**

**Stephanie: Aren't those-  
**

**Yep. *puts them on the desk and turns to you* Hey guys, bet you wanna kill me. Uh...yeah...I'll post an excuse list on my tumblr (wiz-witch). Because I have a truckload of excuses.  
**

**Warnings for this chapter: Swearing, and I think it gets a little...yeah. But, hey, you've read this much, right?  
**

**Disclaimer: Haha...No.  
**

* * *

Dick glanced around the room through his glazed eyes. What was going on? Where was he? He was lying down on a bed in a _very_ white room with various machines near him—

It suddenly came back to him. The movie. Him leaving. The pills. The knife.

The Team.

They had stopped him from killing himself.

_This cann_ot_ be happening_, he thought as he tried to move his numb hands. If there was movement, he couldn't tell. Some of the pills he took must have worked their way into his bloodstream, then. No way Bruce would put more drugs in his system after what happened.

Bruce. Where was he? He heard his father figure talking to him when he woke up…

"…see him."

That sounded like Black Canary. Who was she talking to?

"Not…This…" There was Bruce. What were they talking about?

"...good…you…him like…" He couldn't stand this. What was going on? Were they talking about him?

About what had happened?

"Alright…in. Who…for him." Dick was vaguely aware of a sudden breeze on his face. Where did that come from? He turned his head a fraction of the way towards where the breeze had come from the see Wally.

"Wally?" The speedster broke down at the bird's creaky voice (_Ohmygoshhe'salive_) and tackled the ebony in a hug.

"You're alive…" That was all the ginger could focus on as the he squeezed his friend's torso and a few tears of joy leaked from his eyes. Dick was _alive_. They managed to save him.

Or did they?

Wally released his friend and studied him. Dick wasn't wearing glasses or a mask, thus giving him access to the normally bright, blue orbs that were the teen's eyes. Dick's eyes, however, were faded to a dull blue – almost grey.

Physically, the acrobat was alive. Emotionally, however, he might as well have died.

* * *

Artemis didn't know how to respond to Wally's statement after Black Canary left them. She knew he blamed himself for what happened – they all did – but to say he hadn't been there for his friend? She had never heard anything so ridiculous in her life! Wally was _always_ there for the smaller boy, even on a subconscious level.

Before the blonde could even begin to explain how _wrong_ he was, the speedster was gone. Just ran off.

Lovely.

"Where the Hell did he go?!" Artemis honestly didn't care that she swore, she was starting to get ticked off. Disappearing in the middle of a conversation? That was more of a –

"I think he went to see…you know…" Megan couldn't even say the Boy Wonder's name before getting choked up.

Conner gently wrapped his arms around her before asking, "Should we go in?" Kaldur sighed and closed his eyes as he leaned against the wall.

"As much as I wish we could, I feel it is best if we do not interrupt," the Atlantian explained calmly, infuriating the archer.

"Bullshit!" she yelled as she turned towards the wall and used her momentum to slam her fist into it. No one moved for several seconds as she just stood there with her fist against the wall. The only movement was Artemis's shaking and the two tears that leaked from her closed eyes. Other than that, the teens might as well have been statues.

"You're bleeding!" Megan exclaimed after what felt like hours. She immediately went over to grab the younger girl's hand for a closer examination, and sure enough, Artemis's knuckles were ripped open.

"So I am." Her voice was empty. Hollow. As if she didn't care.

Then again, why should she? Their baby brother almost _died_.

They almost couldn't save him. Heck, they hadn't saved him yet! Whatever made him want to kill himself was most likely still plaguing his mind. If what Wally said in the group counseling was true, it had been plaguing him since before he became Batman's partner.

Four – almost five – years.

Anything simmering for that long would be difficult to calm from. Maybe even impossible.

"We do not want anyone else in med bay," Kaldur stated simply in his calming voice. The archer sighed before walking into a nearby room to see if she could find anything to wrap her fingers in. She soon located a roll of gauze and quickly wrapped her knuckles with it. It wasn't the greatest, but it worked.

As she walked out of the room, Batman walked past.

That meant…

'_Artemis, come on!'_ Megan's voice echoed in her head. _'Canary came out and said we could go in!'_

Yes! Artemis quickly ran into the room Black Canary had walked into earlier and found her with the Team. Lying down on the bed, however, was a face she had become able to recognize anywhere.

* * *

Dick was barely aware of Dinah, Bruce, and Wally all talking. His mind was more focused on the buzzing sensation coming from his hand. KF must have been doing something with it.

Finally, Batman and Canary left, but soon she came back with the rest of the Team. As he lazily looked around and focused on everyone, two thoughts occurred to him: one, Artemis was missing, and two, he was maskless and these guys weren't supposed to know his identity.

They all appeared to be talking, but his brain couldn't catch any of the words. All the chatter fell on deaf ears. Except for one word.

One word said in a voice he recognized as Artemis's.

One word he'd recognize anywhere.

"Dick?!"

* * *

**A/N: *I get hit in the head with a bo staff* Ow! Where did you get that?**

**Stephanie: *twirls it* Where do you think? Anyway, be glad it wasn't a sword.  
**

**Yeah, yeah. Anyway, like I said, the excuse list will be on my tumblr, and I need to work on the next chapter. *sighs* This'll be fun.  
**


End file.
